ON SATURDAY MARCH 7TH THE CODY FILLIES WALKED OFF THE BASKETBALL FLOOR FOR THE FINAL TIME AS THEIR SEASON CAME TO A CLOSE. THIS WAS A TEAM THAT SHOWED TREMENDOUS IMPROVEMENT THROUGH THE WHOLE SEASON WHICH CULTIVATED IN AN OUTSTANDING APPEARANCE AT THE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT. A YOUNG TEAM THAT GREW UP RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. I CAUGHT UP WITH HEAD COACH CHRIS WAGNER AND HE SHARES THE FINAL WORDS HE SAID TO THIS YEARS TEAM AT THE END OF THEIR RUN AT THE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT.
“THE MESSAGE I GAVE THEM WAS, MORE GAMES ARE WON IN THE OFF-SEASON. I FELT LIKE IT WAS A GREAT SEASON SO I DEFINITELY DIDN’T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM THEM. WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS YEAR WAS GREAT AND IT TOOK A LOT OF HARD WORK WITHIN THE SEASON BUT IT’S THOSE EIGHT MONTHS OUTSIDE OF BASKETBALL THAT ARE GOING TO DETERMINE THE PLAYERS THAT WE COME BACK WITH NEXT WINTER. LIKE I SAID MORE GAMES ARE WON, JUST THE SKILLS AND ABILITIES YOU BUILD UP IN THE OFF-SEASON.”
THE FILLIES WENT 1-2 AT THE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT AND FINISHED THE REGULAR SEASON 7-12 OVERALL. A YOUNG TEAM WITH A FIRST YEAR HEAD COACH EXCEEDED EVEN THEIR OWN EXPECTATIONS AND ACCOMPLISHED MORE THAN WHAT MOST PEOPLE EXPECTED. COACH WAGNER WITH A SEASON RECAP.
“I KIND OF TOLD THEM, THIS IS KIND OF THE POINT IN THE SEASON WHERE I’LL FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE YOUNG, WE’RE UNDERSIZED. IT WAS A STRUGGLE THROUGHOUT THE SEASON BECAUSE OF THAT BUT JUST THE WAY, ESPECIALLY THOSE YOUNGER GIRLS FOUGHT AND JUST SHOWED UP AND COMPETED. THEY SHOWED NO FEAR AT TIMES WHEN, YOU GO INTO THOSE REGIONALS, THAT’S A TOUGH ENVIRONMENT. THEY CAME READY TO PLAY. MULTIPLE PEOPLE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT WE WERE PLAYING OUR BEST BASKETBALL AT THAT TOURNAMENT SO IT WAS GOOD TO GO OUT ON THAT NOTE.”
COACH WAGNER GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT WHAT’S NEXT FOR FILLY BASKETBALL, HIGHLIGHTING WHERE THE MOST WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE IN THE OFF-SEASON.
“YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT OUR TEAM, TWO AREAS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO FIX IS REBOUNDING AND FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE. A LOT OF THE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE WOULD JUST BE GETTING IN, GETTING THOSE REPS. THE REBOUNDING, WE’LL START PRACTICE PLANNING A LOT EARLIER AND KIND OF HAVING A BETTER MINDSET OF WHAT WE WANT TO GET OUT OF THOSE. STRUCTURE THINGS INTO PRACTICE TO KIND OF MAKE THAT MORE OF AN EMPHASIS. THE WEIGHT ROOM’S A BIG PART OF REBOUNDING TOO. JUST BEING MORE PHYSICAL, BEING MORE ATHLETIC THAN THE PERSON YOU’RE GOING AGAINST IS GOING TO LEAD TO A LOT MORE REBOUNDING.”
COACH WAGNER THEN ADDS WHAT THE FUTURE OF FILLY BASKETBALL LOOKS LIKE WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE ROSTER SET TO RETURN.
“WE’VE GOT A LOT OF PIECES AND I SEE US HAVING SOME REALLY GOOD BALANCE. ALLY (BOYSEN) SHOWED SHE CAN PLAY INSIDE. IZZY (RADAKOVICH) WAS MAKING SOME REALLY GOOD POST MOVES AND JUST HER POST DEFENSE WAS GREAT. ALLY SCHROEDER WAS SHOWING A LOT OF CONFIDENCE LATE IN THE SEASON. SO YEAH, WE’VE GOT A LOT OF PLAYERS THAT WE CAN GET A LOT OUT OF. THERE’S A FEW COMING UP IN THE EIGHTH GRADE CLASS. DEFINITELY A FEW SOLID ATHLETES IN THAT GROUP TOO.”
AND WEDNESDAY I MENTIONED THAT TORRIE SCHUTZMAN RECEIVED 2ND TEAM ALL-STATE. COACH WAGNER ON TORRIE GARNERING THE AWARD.
“WHEN I LOOK AT CONSISTENCY, TORRIE WAS PROBABLY OUR MOST CONSISTENT PLAYER THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, SCORING WISE. WE BASED A LOT OF SCORING AND OUR OFFENSE AROUND HER. TORRIE WAS GREAT. SHE’S KIND OF THE QUARTERBACK OF THE TEAM. WE’RE KIND OF A FAST BREAK TYPE TEAM AND WHEN SHE CAN JUST REAR BACK AND THROW THE BALL AND PUT IT ON SOMEONES HANDS ALL THE WAY DOWN THE COURT… WHEN SHE GETS STEALS & SHE’S INSTANTLY LOOKING TO WHAT SCORING OPPORTUNITIES WE CAN GET OUT OF THAT, SHE’S NOT LOOKING JUST TO TAKE CARE OF OF THE BALL, SHE’S TRYING TO PUSH IT UP THE FLOOR. SHE HAS GREAT INSTINCTS ON THE BALL. SHE GAVE US A LOT OF EXTRA POSSESSIONS JUST A KNACK TO GET THE BALL FROM THE OTHER TEAMS HANDS.”
STAY TUNED TO THE BIG HORN RADIO NETWORK FOR MORE ON THE CODY FILLIES AND ALL OF CODY ATHLETICS.
“IT’S AMAZING. THIS COMMUNITY IS AWESOME. JUST THE SUPPORT WE HAD EVERYWHERE WE WENT. SOME OF THE COACHES AROUND THE STATE WERE ALWAYS COMPLIMENTING HOW WELL WE TRAVELED, WE’RE TRAVELING FURTHER THAN EVERYONE, BEING THE SMALLEST SCHOOL OUT THERE. ITS JUST BEEN FUN. THIS COMMUNITY IS GREAT. THE GIRLS I GOT BLESSED WITH ARE AWESOME. PLENTY OF COACHES COULD’VE DONE ANYTHING THAT WE DID JUST BASED ON THE GIRLS THAT WE HAD COMING INTO THE PROGRAM. I WAS VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE THEM ALL. WE’RE JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE AND I’M ALREADY EXCITED TO GET NEXT SEASON ROLLING.”
FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
